Making the Grade
by Supreme-King
Summary: Luffy is excited for his freshman year of High School. With his carefree attitude and his treasured straw hat, he's ready for anything. But with crazy teachers, sadistic bullies, vicious street thugs, good friends, great adventures, a ton of homework and a very persistent police officer, he's in for one hell of a year at Grand Line High.
1. The Welcoming Ceremony

**Hey everyone. I decided to emerge from my years of dormancy and share this One Piece story I've begun writing. **

**I don't own One Piece. I wish I did, but I don't. The talented Eiichiro Oda does.**

**I would like a show of support of this story. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review. I do need them as proof for my university assignments. But please no flamers or haters.**

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Chapter 1.

It was a decent morning. The sun shone brightly, birds chirped happily in the trees and small children laughed with glee. All of this was temporarily drowned out by a single noise. A noise that promised nothing but torture, boredom and suffering that went beyond death.

The first bell of the school year.

Students trudged towards the open doors of the high school like they were prisoners on death row walking towards the electric chair.

Some paused to heckle a long-nosed freshmen with black hair who didn't want to get out of his dad's pickup truck. A few male students whistled and cat-called at some of the female students and one of them even going so far as to peek up a girl's skirt.

Teachers darted through the crowd, scolding some students for faults with their uniforms, or lingering too long in the parking lot.

A black-haired freshman walked through the gate and glanced at the name of the school and matched it against the school name scribbled down amongst the instructions and directions written on the notepad paper he had clutched in his hand.

He grinned and placed his straw hat over his eyes, hoisted his bag over his shoulder and walked towards the school's doors. A commotion caused him to turn back to the entry gates.

The long-nosed freshman was still trying to grip the door frame of his dad's car for dear life as three teachers tried to pull him from the vehicle while his dad tried to push him out.

After much shouting and perseverance, the teachers succeeded in prying the student from the vehicle, surrounded him to prevent any means of escape, and marched him towards the school amongst the rapidly thinning crowd.

As soon as the boy had lost his grip on the vehicle, his dad leaned across the seat, pulled the door shut and then sped out of the parking lot.

The spectating freshman adjusted his straw hat and turned back towards the school, which only served him to collide into another student and caused them both to fall.

All he heard was a squeal of surprise, saw a flash of orange hair and a pair of thin, creamy legs before he hit the pavement. The boy recovered quickly, scrambling to his knees and brushing the dirt from his uniform while he searched the surrounding area for his straw hat.

He found it lying a few feet from him. He leaned over and plucked it from the pavement, brushed it gently and placed it on his head. He turned back to the student he had collided with and discovered that she was already on her hands and knees, picking up items that had spilled from her bag when she had fallen and was currently in the process of stuffing them back into her school bag.

He quickly scrabbled to her side to help collect all the various items that lay scattered. He grabbed a textbook and held it out to her. She snatched it from his hand without a word of thanks.

"I'm sorry I bumped into you." He said sincerely, as he collected a few pens from the ground. "I should have watched where I was going."

"Yeah, you should have." She said angrily. She scooped a couple of books and a pencil case and dumped them into her bag, stood up and brushed a lock of her orange hair away from her eyes.

The boy carefully picked up the last item he could find, a tube of eyeliner, and held it out for her. She snatched it from his fingers without a word. "I'm Luffy, by the way, and you are...?"

The girl's brown eyes flashed with irritation. "Not interested in talking to a loser!" She snapped in reply. And with that she turned her back on him and stormed off into the school.

Luffy frowned after her. '_That is a really weird name._' he thought. A teacher making a final sweep spotted him, hurried over and ushered him into the school.

**XXX**

The school auditorium buzzed with conversation. Friends swapped stories and talked about recent movies, who broke up with who, the latest fashion, who had the wildest parties, and many other things.

A man emerged from the side of the stage and made his way to the lone microphone that rested on its tripod stand in the centre. He tapped it a couple of times and said "Testing, testing."

Which came out loud, accompanied by a blast of static.

The students screamed and clapped their hands over their ears. The man did the same until he was certain it was safe to remove his hands. "H-Hello? Ahem. Welcome to Grand Line High. I am your principal. Principal Spandam."

If there was one word to describe Spandam, it would be _Creepy_.

His skin was unhealthily pale, his wavy yet wild, lavender-coloured hair gleamed in the lights. There were dark markings around his eyes as if he hadn't slept in a year and his nose was rather red. He wore a studded belt, gloves and high-collared vest. All leather.

A few students clapped.

Spandam beamed. "Thank you. Now, first and foremost. There are a few rules that need to be upheld around here. I have them here with me and I shall now read them out."

He produced a list from his vest and began to read the rules aloud for the students. Without even realizing it, he stepped on the cord and pulled the jack, rendering the microphone useless.

Spandam continued to drone on without realizing his mistake. It wasn't fixed until one of the tech students scurried onto the stage and plugged the cord back in. Spandam's voice once again echoed off the walls.

"…And finally, there is to be no insults directed at me. Is that clear, Cutty Flam?" He aimed the last question at the woodwork teacher, who stood in line with the other teachers onstage.

The blue-haired man flicked his sunglasses from the bridge of his nose so that they settled against his forehead and raised his other arm in acknowledgement. "Whatever you say, Spanda." He replied.

"It's Spandam!" The principal snapped, again accompanied by a screech of static.

Only once everyone had taken their hands away from their ears did he resume talking.

"Now, to enforce the rules of this school, I have enlisted some students with the responsibility of becoming this year's hall monitors. And here they are!"

Five students marched in a straight line to the centre of the stage. Four boys, one girl. They faced the students, their faces serious and unsmiling.

"Allow me to introduce them. Ladies first, this is Kalifa." He said, indicating the girl by twirling his hands.

Kalifa was a serious looking young woman. Her uniform consisted of the school shirt, the first couple of buttons unfastened so that her cleavage was revealed and instead of pants, she wore a short skirt. Her long, blonde hair was settled behind her back. She wore black-framed glasses and small, studded earrings.

She frowned at the principal and adjusted her glasses. "That's sexual harassment." She said sharply.

The audience burst into great fits of laughter.

Spandam's jaw dropped. "What? Because I introduced you first?" He demanded.

Kalifa gave him a stony stare in reply.

"A-anyway, moving on." Spandam said as he moved to the boy that stood beside Kalifa.

Kalifa, however, called him back. "Sir."

"Y-yes, Kalifa?" The principal asked.

"That's sexual harassment." She said again.

"Why? Because I finished your introductory?" He said.

The audience laughed harder.

"Silence!" he screamed.

The students settled down, partly relieved that there was no blast of static to deafen them again. "As I was saying, our next hall monitor is Kaku."

Kaku's uniform consisted of a white cap, high-collared orange jacket with blue sleeves over his school shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. He smiled kindly and nodded to the crowd, although most students were staring at his long, square nose.

"Next is Jabra."

Jabra wore his school shirt in a similar fashion to Kalifa, unbuttoned to reveal his chest and the new tattoo he had gotten over the summer break. He wore a small, black tie, black pants and shoes. He also had small pointed, silver-framed sunglasses resting on his forehead. His long hair was kept in a ponytail.

"This is Fukuro."

Fukuro was big and wide. His green hair was well groomed and stubble was noticeable on his chin. Unlike his fellow students, he wore a formal black suit with the school's emblem stitched onto the right breast.

Fukuro leaned down unexpectedly and spoke into the microphone. "Gatherine dumped Jabra before this assembly." He announced.

More laughter echoed off the walls. Jabra went red in the face from both embarrassment and rage. "Shut the hell up! How did you even find out about that?!" He shouted as he tried to clamp his hands over Fukuro's mouth in a desperate attempt to stop anymore secrets from spilling out.

Only once Spandam succeeded in stopping the scuffle and making the students settle did he introduce the final hall monitor.

"And this is Rob Lucci." He announced.

An uneasy silence settled as the students recognized the senior that stood before them. Lucci was notorious for his attitude towards others. He was sadistic and vicious and would definitely punish wrongdoers with more than just detention.

He wore his school shirt over a white tank top, black pants and shoes and a black top hat with a sepia band. He gazed at the audience with hard eyes.

"This, boys and girls, is our ninth group of hall monitors in the history of this school. I call them the 'Cool Police.'" He said giving a wink and a thumbs-up to the audience.

Groans answered him. Even the hall monitors themselves looked unhappy with the name. Kaku and Kalifa shared a look of distaste between them. Jabra visibly grimaced.

"That name sucks!" Shouted a student.

Rob Lucci's eyes instantly targeted the student and he committed the boy's face to memory. He would be having a 'talk' with that student later.

Spandam's eyelid twitched. "Fine. Then I shall call them CP9. The 'School Police'. How about that then?"

Everyone gave up on trying to find any logic in the new name or the reason why the name itself didn't match the initials, but CP9 sounded cool enough on its own.

"With these five seniors roaming the halls, I expect there to be zero rule-breaking. Thank you, CP9. You may return to your seats." Principal Spandam said.

The audience applauded as the students left the stage. When the applause died, Spandam addressed the next agenda. "Now, allow me to introduce this year's freshmen!"

After a moment's delay, a long line of young students shuffled into view. They lined themselves from one side of the stage to the other and gazed out into the sea of faces that stared right back at them.

The same tech student hurried over to Spandam, handed him a clipboard and then doubled back. The principal began announcing names, and motioning for the selected student to step forward as he said their name and then shooing them back into line. Eventually he got down to the last few names on the list.

"Kaya."

A slim, pale girl with white-blonde hair stepped forward. In the audience, unnoticed by everyone, a senior leaned forward in his seat to study the girl more carefully. He smiled to himself and adjusted his glasses.

Kaya stepped back into line and the principal read the next name.

"Nami."

The orange-haired girl stepped forward. Luffy looked at her, frowning in confusion. He turned to the student next to him, who just happened to be the long nosed freshman that he had seen clinging to the car earlier that morning.

"I thought her name was '_Not-interested-in-talking-to-a-loser_'." He said sincerely. The long nosed freshman spluttered and coughed to avoid laughing aloud.

Nami stepped back in line and Luffy leaned forward to catch her eye. "That's a nice name. Good to meet 'cha, Nami." He said, giving her a huge, friendly grin. She averted her eyes.

"You there! Be quiet." Shouted Spandam, as he pointed dramatically at Luffy.

Luffy raised his hand in apology. "Sorry." He said.

"Alright then, next is… Perona."

A pink-haired girl stepped forward. Some members of the audience whispered to one another, commenting on her gothic appearance. Perona turned her eyes to her shoes, tugged at her skirt nervously and stepped back into line.

"Usopp!"

The long-nosed freshman stumbled forward and then quickly retreated back to the safety of the line before Spandam could blink.

Luffy slapped his back. "Good to meet you, Usopp." He said with a wide grin. "Likewise." Usopp replied. "Sorry, what's your name?" He asked.

"Oh, my name is-"

"Luffy!" Spandam announced into the microphone.

"Yeah, that name." Luffy said and stepped forward. He raised his arm in welcome and grinned at the audience.

"And that concludes the introductory of the freshman students." He turned to face the teenagers. "Take your seats." He said.

They moved off the stage and Spandam once again addressed the audience of students. "And finally, we have some new transfer students joining us this year. Our first is Dracule Mihawk from the prestigious Red Line Private School."

The students applauded as a tall, serious looking student made his way onto the stage. He shook Spandam's hand and then gazed out at the sea of faces, his hawk-like eyes taking in every detail. He had a short beard and sideburns. He wore a black vest over his school shirt and a wide-brimmed black hat that was decorated with a large plume.

More than a few of the girls in the audience squealed in delight as they saw how handsome he was.

"Next we have three transfer students from Lily Academy."

More exclamations came from the audience, mainly from the guys. Lily Academy was the well known all-girls school that lay in the next town over.

"Please welcome Hancock Gorgon."

The audience burst into cheers, catcalls and wolf whistles as the raven-haired girl made her way onto the stage. Spandam held out his hand to shake Hancock's. She looked at it in distaste and focused her attention towards the audience.

Hancock was extremely beautiful. She wore a black skirt that ended halfway down her thighs and black stockings. Her school shirt was open at the top, revealing quite a bit of her chest and breasts, something that was against school regulations but Spandam was too busy peeking at her body to chastise her.

Hancock stared at everyone with look of extreme boredom in her blue eyes. She turned back to Spandam, who immediately stopped looking at her body and assumed a guilty expression.

"Uh… Ahem. Next is Sandersonia Gorgon."

A second girl stepped into the light that illuminated the stage. She was tall, standing almost seven feet. She had waist length, wavy green hair with matching green eyes and fingernails. She wore her uniform in a very similar fashion to her older sister, except her stockings were green and her shirt wasn't as revealing as Hancock's. She, too, ignored Spandam's hand and moved to her sister's side.

"And finally, Marigold Gorgon."

A third girl made her way onto the stage. She was just as tall as Sandersonia, but whereas her sisters were thin, she was wide. She had flowing orange hair with a string of white flowers above her brow while a similar necklace of pink flowers hung from her throat.

"Give these lovely girls a round of applause!" said Spandam. The audience let out a deafening collection of cheers, whistles and applause (although most of it was for Hancock). The girls left the stage and audience cheered louder.

Once the applause died down, Spandam spoke into the microphone. "Welcome to another year at Grand Line High!" He announced, sweeping his arms outward, which only succeeded in knocking over the microphone stand.

Every pair of eyes in the auditorium widened in horror as they watched the microphone make its descent to the floor. After what felt like minutes, the microphone hit the wooden stage and bounced once.

The result was another blast of static that screeched through the speakers around the auditorium and had the students screaming once again and clasping their hands over their ears.

End Chapter.

All of you reading this chapter, please review. I really need to know your feedback. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.


	2. Luffy's First Day

Hey there, readers. I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 2.

With the assembly over and done with, students streamed from the auditorium, each of them intent on making their way to their first class of the day. Luffy wandered amongst them, staring at his timetable as if it were an alien, he turned it upside down and cocked his head to one side.

While he was attempting to decipher his class schedule, a green-haired teen lunged towards him and threw his arm around the younger boy's neck, forced his head low as he began to rub his knuckles across the black-haired teen's head.

"Hey, Luffy. Glad to see you could find your way to school." He said, an amused grin breaking out across his features. Luffy struggled out of the headlock. "Hey, Zoro." He greeted his friend. "What's new?"

"You mean besides being a sophomore this year and not a freshman? Not a whole lot." Zoro looked away and fished something from the pocket of his jeans. He turned back to Luffy and grinned in excitement.

"Except that I bought a car this summer." He held the key up so that it glinted in the light while, swinging slightly to and fro, a skull and crossbones key ring glared at Luffy.

"That's awesome!" declared Luffy. "What kind of car is it?"

Zoro shoved the key back into his pocket. "A 1978 Mustang Cobra II." He answered.

"That's awesome." Luffy repeated.

"Damn straight it is. Now we can go cruising at night. In style."

"You wanna go somewhere tonight?" Luffy asked, his eyes sparkling at the thought of an adventure.

"Yeah, sure." Zoro said, slipping the keys back into his pocket. "I've got the gym after school, but we can talk more about it at lunch."

Usopp suddenly appeared out of the thinning crowd and moved to stand beside Luffy. "Hey, Luffy. What do you have as your first class?" He asked, trying to peek at the schedule in Luffy's hand.

Luffy looked down at his timetable. "Uh... Math, I think. Here." He held the slip of paper to Usopp. The long-nosed teen studied it.

"You have English first, same as me." He said, relief evident in his voice. Zoro stood, staring at the two of them with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, right. Zoro, this is Usopp. Usopp, this is Zoro." Luffy introduced them. The green-haired teen held out his hand and Usopp hurried to shake it.

"So… Uh." Usopp said in an attempt to break the ice. "What do you have as your first class?"

"History." Zoro replied in a bored tone and he yawned. "It's a good opportunity to get more sleep."

"Uh… Shouldn't you be paying attention in class." Usopp said.

"What for?" Zoro said, stretching his back.

"Because you need to be prepared for the tests." Said a new voice. The three boys spun to see the newcomer. It was one of the hall monitors. The square-nosed one. Kaku.

"Whoa. I'm seeing double!" Luffy said, glancing quickly from one to the other. Usopp and Kaku glanced at each other.

"We look nothing alike." Usopp said.

Luffy and Zoro both tilted their heads forty-five degrees to the left. "You pretty much look the same to me." They said in unison.

"But his nose is square, mine isn't." Usopp protested. He quickly turned to the senior. "No offence." He added.

The hall monitor gave him a friendly smile. "None taken. Now c'mon guys. Time to go to class." He said ushering them along the hall.

**XXX**

Spandam looked up from the latest edition of the school newsletter when Lucci entered his office. He raised an eyebrow as he saw Lucci dragging a slumped figure. "Who do you have here, Lucci?"

Lucci smiled sadistically. "This is the one who called out in assembly." He said and relinquished his hold on the student. The boy crumpled to the floor and quickly scrambled to his feet. His face was bruised, bleeding and a black eye was already beginning to form.

"What the hell, principal?! You can't allow this treatment to me! This guy is an animal." He said, pointing at Lucci. Spandam nodded gravely.

"As a matter of fact, I can and I will. You broke the rules, which means you had to be punished. You will receive detention for a week. Starting now." He added as an afterthought.

"I'll tell the newspapers about this." The boy said angrily. Spandam answered the threat with a mocking smile. "Oh, no you won't." He said.

"Yes, I will." The boy snapped in reply, and then he made his mistake. "And you can't stop me."

Spandam frowned. "That's true, I can't stop you. But Lucci can." He said, and he made eye contact with the older student. The hall monitor grabbed his fellow student's head and slammed it into Spandam's desk with a loud thud.

The student fell and writhed on the floor, groaning in pain and clutching his bleeding nose. Lucci reached down and grabbed a handful of the boy's collar and hauled the student to his feet with minimal effort.

"Now you listen to me, you little brat." Spandam said, pointing his finger at the boy. "You will tell no one of this. If anyone asks, tell them you fell… but you didn't fall here. You fell on the way to school. I don't need any angry parents or the school board breathing down my neck. Is that clear?"

The student glared at Spandam. "You can go fuc-"

Before the student could finish his insult, Lucci slammed his face into Spandam's desk again. He kept a firm grip on the student's collar as the boy began to sag to the floor. Sobbing in pain, he cupped his hands in a failing attempt to catch the blood from his broken nose before it dripped onto his shirt.

"Is that clear?" Spandam asked again.

"Yesh." The student answered thickly.

Spandam settled back in his chair. "Good. I'm glad we came to an understanding." He said happily. "Now get out."

**XXX**

Luffy was bored. Bored, bored, bored. He now sat in math class. English had been okay, but only because Usopp was there. In Math class he had no one. The teacher droned on about some equations… Or something like that.

Luffy had stopped paying attention half an hour ago.

He glanced around at the surrounding students and noticed the orange-haired girl, Nami, one seat over from his. He blinked. He hadn't realized that they were in the same Math class.

Her head was resting on her hand, boredom filled her half-lidded eyes and she tapped her pencil on her open book absentmindedly. He tried to get her attention.

"Psst. Nami. Hey, Nami."

The pink-haired gothic girl, Perona, who sat between them looked over at him and then to Nami. She leaned across and touched the orange-haired girl's arm softly. Nami gave a small start of surprise and turned to Perona.

The pink-haired girl pointed back over her shoulder to Luffy. As Nami looked in his direction he gave her a wave. She moved her gaze to her notebook and began scribbling into it, as if she were taking notes.

Luffy frowned. Maybe he hadn't waved right? He tried whispering to her again. "Nami? Hey, Nami."

This time Perona didn't need to gain Nami's attention for him. The redhead was well aware that Luffy was trying to communicate with her.

She scribbled something in her notebook and then tore out the section that contained the message. She leaned over and tapped Perona on the shoulder. When the gothic girl looked at her, Nami handed her a note and pointed at Luffy.

The message was clear. Give the note to him.

Perona handed the note to Luffy. He took it and stared at it curiously. He looked over to Nami, but she was writing more entries into her notebook. She didn't give him a second glance.

Luffy started to unfold the note when a voice stopped him.

"Mr. Luffy. Is that a note?" Asked the teacher.

"Yes." He replied honestly.

"Well, stand up and read it out."

Luffy stood up, a little unnerved by being the centre of unwanted attention. He unfolded the note Nami had written him, cleared his throat and read the words loud.

"'Fuck off!'"

Every student in the room burst into laughter. Every student except Luffy, that is.

"_WHAT?!_" Shrieked the teacher. "_How dare you!_"

"But that's what it says." Luffy said.

"Mr. Luffy. You are to stay behind after class and I will be having a few words with you."

Luffy was very disappointed when he realized that lunch time was right after this class.

**XXX**

Zoro sat at the lunch table, eating what the crazy lunchroom cook had called 'Mystery Meat'. He was convinced it had been road kill before it was in the cooking pot.

He chugged his soda to drown the taste and burped loudly. "I wish this was rum." He muttered. Usopp sat across from him, poking the meat on his plate as he stared at the blonde, pale freshman seated at another table.

She was quietly talking with a couple of other girls. Usopp sighed and pushed his food from the plate and onto the tray without realizing it. He jolted out of his thoughts when Luffy slammed his tray onto the table, took his seat and began wolfing down as fast as he could.

"Geez, Luffy. What took you so long?" Asked Zoro. The black-haired teen continued gulping down his lunch. Finally he paused for breath. "That stupid Math teacher made me stay behind after class."

"Why?" Asked Usopp, having finally turned his attention from the blonde girl. Luffy took a long draught of his orange juice and sighed appreciatively. "That Nami girl passed me a note in class and the teacher made me read it."

"That doesn't seem so bad. Your teacher made you stay behind for that?" Usopp commented. Luffy ducked under the table and rummaged around in his bag until he found the crumpled scrap of paper.

He handed it to Usopp and continued eating his food. Usopp read the two words scrawled on the paper. "Oh." He said softly.

Zoro reached across the table and snatched the scrap from Usopp's hand. He peered at the words and snorted with laughter. "That could not have played out any better." He said as he imagined the scene in his head.

"And you got a note from a girl. She might like you, Luffy." Zoro added, completely straight-faced. The black-haired boy had already finished his lunch and quietly moved Usopp's lunch tray in front of him. "You think so?" He asked as he jammed his fork into his friend's food.

Usopp didn't notice his lunch being stolen. He had moved his attention back to the blonde girl.

"Of course not." Zoro said breaking out in a grin. He shook the scrap of paper in front of Luffy's face.

"That's not exactly what you want to hear from a girl. You want to hear something like _'Oh my god, Luffy. You're so handsome that I just want to kiss you.'_" He said, adopting a high-pitched voice that cracked with every 'I', 'A' and 'Y'.

"You really think I'm handsome, Zoro?" Luffy asked with his mouth full of Usopp's food. His friend smacked him over the head. "Don't be stupid." The green-haired teen replied.

**XXX**

The freshman class filtered into the dimly lit auditorium. This was Drama class but the place was empty except for a lone statue standing in the centre of the stage beneath a spotlight.

The statue was of a tall, bulky man with a painted white face and long pink hair that flowed around the body thanks to a nearby pedestal fan. He wore a black suit and tie but instead of shoes, he wore green socks and flip flops. A staff was held tightly in his grip.

The students bunched up at the edge of the stage and stared up at the statue. "Is that our teacher?" A timid looking boy with pink, bowl-styled haired asked as he adjusted his glasses.

"I don't think so." Replied the blue-haired girl, Vivi. "I don't even think that's a real person. See? He isn't moving at all."

Luffy climbed onto the stage and stepped forward to examine the statue closely. He peered at it this way and that. Finally he stood on tip-toe and waved a hand in the statue's face.

"YOYOI!" The statue bellowed.

Luffy and the other students jumped a mile by the unexpected sound that roared from the statue's mouth. It moved and Luffy realized that it wasn't a statue but an actual person.

The man stepped forward, his hair billowing around as if he were underwater. He addressed the teenagers in an incredibly loud voice.

"Welcome students. Welcome. Students, welcome to Drama class! I am your teacher, Kumadori!" He said. "It is my job to bring out your sensitive, creative side in spectacular performances that will touch the very souls of those who witness them."

"What if we aren't creative?" Luffy asked sincerely.

Kumadori gasped theatrically as if the thought had just occurred to him.

"Oh, mother in heaven." He said as he raised his arms to the ceiling. "Please know that I had not intentionally failed. I shall correct my blunder by taking my own life."

He grasped his staff with both hands and thrust it into his own chest. The staff bent and crumpled in on itself, for it was only a prop.

"OH, MOTHER IN HEAVEN! I HAVE EVEN FAILED TO TAKE MY OWN LIFE!" Kumadori shouted, tears streaming from his eyes.

He huddled into a ball and continued to weep and shout to his dead mother.

The students that surrounded the strange man whispered to one another.

"I don't get it."

"Is he putting on some kind of act?"

"He did know that the staff was a prop, right?"

"I don't think it's an act. I think he's just crazy."

"Who the hell hired this guy?"

"He's funny!" Luffy said as he doubled over and laughed at the 'performance' the teacher was putting on.

**XXX**

Eventually the final bell rang and the students streamed from the school's front doors in a torrent, all eager to get back to their lives. Luffy strode out the front gates, patting his growling stomach. He was eager to get some food.

"Luffy!"

The call came from behind him. Luffy paused and turned. A blonde-haired teen boy materialized from the crowd to stand by Luffy's side.

"Sanji!" Luffy said happily. They began walking from the school towards an area of the town that was more ideal for teenagers. Complete with an old fashioned diner, a park and bus station to loiter at, even an arcade.

Luffy matched Sanji's pace before he asked what was on his mind. "I haven't seen you all day. Where have you been?"

Sanji grinned widely at his friend, the chewed lollypop stick protruding from between his teeth. "You know I can never resist speaking with beautiful young ladies." He replied.

"Is that why you missed lunch?" Luffy queried.

Sanji nodded sagely. "Indeed," he replied. "I was treating a certain beauty to a fine cooked meal, courtesy of the Home Ec. kitchen. I may have also 'liberated' a few ingredients from the cafeteria."

"So who was the girl?" Luffy asked.

He got no response.

Luffy walked a few more steps before he realized Sanji was no longer walking with him. He turned and discovered that Sanji had doubled back to talk to a senior girl that was walking behind them.

Luffy stepped aside as Sanji and the raven-haired girl drew level with him. The senior girl spared Luffy a glance, her intelligent blue eyes studied his face and she gave him a small, friendly smile of greeting. Sanji was still chattering away to her.

"As I was saying, a beauty such as yourself shouldn't carry such a burden upon your shoulders. May you allow this humble gentleman the honour of carrying your backpack?" Sanji said, smiling with enough radiance to put the sun to shame.

The senior girl smiled politely. "Thank you for your generous offer, but I think I'll be able to manage." She said, her tone playful and friendly.

Sanji bowed. "If that is your wish, but should you feel it uncomfortable on your back, I shall be there to carry it for you."

"Thank you." The girl said and continued on her way. Sanji smiled after her until she turned a corner and was lost from sight. He plucked the lollypop stick from his teeth and flicked it into a nearby trash can.

He retrieved a packet of cigarettes from his jacket's pocket and slid one from its spot. He trapped it between his teeth and shoved the packet back into his pocket. He withdrew a lighter and cupped his hands protectively around the flame until it lit his cigarette.

He inhaled deeply and let it out in a small cloud of smoke. "I've missed these." He said and returned to Luffy's side. "Who was that?" Luffy asked.

"I'm fairly certain that is Nico Robin. She reads the daily announcements at school. Her stepfather is Mr. Crocodile, the Tycoon of Baroque Works Steel Manufacturers. You may have heard of him." Sanji said. "So, what have got planned for the night? Homework?"

Luffy scratched the back of his head, his hand knocking the straw hat forward over his eyes. "I might go hang out with my new friend, Usopp." He said. "How about you?"

Sanji inhaled from his cigarette before he answered. "I've got a seven hour shift at the Baratie restaurant starting from five."

Luffy pushed his straw hat back into place. "Cool. I'll have to eat there sometime." He said, his stomach growling again at the thought of food.

Sanji chuckled. "Sorry, Luffy. We'll only let you in if you have a beautiful woman accompanying you." He joked.

"Wait, really? That's not fair! I don't know any beautiful women!" Luffy pouted. "No real ones, anyway." He added.

Sanji laughed aloud.

"You're a delightful idiot, you know that?" He told Luffy.

End Chapter.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm still in the process of writing the next chapter (whereas I had this chapter and the first already written) so it may take a bit longer to produce. Please just leave a review to let me know what you think of the story so far. The feedback is important because I need them as my proof of assessment for a course I'm doing. Please help me out. See ya soon.


	3. Feelings For Kaya

Hi everyone. Sorry about the long wait for an update, the reason is listed at the bottom of the chapter. Anyways, a very Merry Christmas to you all. (I know I'm a few days late. My bad). My late gift to you is not one, but two chapters of Making the Grade. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's going to be the first stepping stone to the more serious stuff of the story.

Chapter 3.

Sanji arrived at the school yard at 8:32am, just like he always did. He paused to drop his used cigarette into the grass before he crushed it underfoot. He rummaged around in his pocket and withdrew a cherry-flavoured lollypop. He tore the wrapper off and stuck the lollypop in his mouth. He grinned at a pair of passing female students and went searching for his friends.

He found Zoro sitting against a tree, his eyes closed and his arms folded behind his head. "Hey, Moss-head." Sanji greeted. "Where's Luffy at?"

Zoro nodded his head towards the courtyard. "He's over there, swirly-brow." He replied without opening his eyes.

Sanji was about to snap a reply when he caught sight of Luffy. He and Usopp were dancing in the closest courtyard. Their arms were outstretched, they bobbed their heads in unison and slid to the right. They clapped their hands and wiggled their shoulders.

Sanji's mouth dropped open and the lollypop fell from his mouth. "What the hell are they doing?" He asked the green-haired teen. Zoro opened one eye as he studied the dancing duo.

"Thriller Bark's new song was released. It had dancing zombies in the music video. That's the same dance those morons are doing." Luffy and Usopp clapped their hands again.

"We are Thriller! Thriller Bark!" They sang loudly. "And we rule the zombies, who lurk deep within the dark!"

"Oh, dear God, no." Sanji muttered, covering his eyes with his hand and turning his head away.

Students all around who had just arrived had stopped to stare at the pair with mild curiosity or confusion. A small group of seniors walked close by Sanji. He heard them muttering about his friends. He caught the words "weirdoes" and "social suicide".

He heard Zoro groan in exasperation. "Now there are more of them."

Sanji couldn't help himself. He peeked between his fingers.

Sure enough, five more students had lined up behind Luffy and Usopp. Three boys and two girls, all of whom, Sanji was sure, were part of the dance class. They mirrored his friend's movements perfectly, although they didn't join the two boys in the singing.

Luffy looked like he was having the time of his life. His huge grin was visible below the brim of his straw hat. Usopp's face was screwed up in concentration, as though he were trying very hard to remember the co-ordination.

More students had arrived. They began to laugh and cheer the dancing students on. More than a few had their phones out and were recording the scene. Sanji heard a Sophomore close to him say aloud. "Oh internet, this is so going all over you."

"The dead are up and waaaalllllking, so you'd better quickly run and hiiiide." They sang. "Terror will taaaake you, and darkness will start to swallow all the light."

Luffy and Usopp spun on the spot and clapped again. Usopp faltered when he caught sight of Kaya, the blonde Freshman whom he had started to develop a crush on. She was watching him, her friendly face alight with laughter. Usopp went beat-red, tripped over his own feet and fell on his face.

Luffy continued dancing, oblivious to Usopp's fall. He spun to his left and performed a small leap…

Only to collide with something and fall on his butt.

"Hey! What's the big idea, jerk?!" He demanded, pushing his hat from his eyes.

A collective intake of breath could be heard from every student in the courtyard as Rob Lucci stared down at Luffy.

Over by the tree, Zoro was on his feet in an instant. Both he and Sanji were prepared to step in if they were needed.

Lucci kept his eyes on Luffy as he brushed the area of his chest that Luffy had collided with as if he were ridding any dirt that may have settled. A crimson red band was visible around the left bicep of Lucci's blazer, the white initials CP9 visible to all, and in smaller writing beneath the larger letters were the words HALL MONITOR.

"What do you think you're doing, Freshmen?" He asked.

Luffy never took his eyes from Lucci's as he stood. "I'm just having fun." He answered.

"Fun?" Echoed Lucci. He turned his cold eyes onto the backup dancers. They quickly backed away and scattered towards the safety of the school. A smile tweaked at the corner of Lucci's mouth, but there was no humour in his eyes.

"How could dancing around like an insane little freak be fun?" Lucci said loudly enough for all the surrounding students to hear.

Luffy was about to reply when a strangled yelp sounded behind him. He spun to discover one of the other hall monitors - … What was his name?... Uh.. Goober?... The one with the tattoo - hauling Usopp by the collar of his shirt until he was dangling a few centimeters from the ground.

"What do you think, Lucci? There's gotta be some school rule they're breaking." Said the one Luffy now called Goober.

"Loitering on school grounds? Distracting fellow students from their education? Maybe they were dancing in protest of something. That is definitely against school rules." He smiled like a wolf at Usopp, who whimpered and struggled feebly to break out of his grip.

Lucci stepped right up to Luffy until he was bearing down on him. "Well? Choose your fate, Freshman." He said. "Yours and your pathetic friend."

Luffy's hand clenched into a fist.

Lucci's eyes flickered down to Luffy's fist for a second and then back into Luffy's eyes.

"Give me a reason, Freshman." He whispered menacingly.

The tension was suffocating. Everybody's eyes were locked on Luffy and Lucci. Nobody made a sound.

"SUUUUUUUUUPEEEERRRR!"

Everyone except Luffy and Lucci jumped by the unexpected announcement. The crowd parted to reveal the Woodwork teacher, Cutty Flam, striding towards the two boys. Luffy stared. While most teachers at other schools wore suits or plain clothes, Mr. Flam wore shorts, a red Hawaiian shirt and a gold chain around his neck, complete with sunglasses and flip flops.

"Hey, hey! What's all the commotion about? Why does it look like the two of you are about to -"

He leaned to one side and bent the knee on the same side. The other leg locked straight and was positioned going the opposite direction. He threw his head back. His arms swung over his head and locked together wrist-to-wrist. The two separate star tattoos on his bulging forearms pushed together to make one star. (Many of the older students recognized this as his signature pose)

"-OW! FIGHT?!"

Lucci straightened. "There wasn't going to be a fight, Mr. Flam. I was just explaining to the Freshman here that it is against the school rules to dance in protest."

"Against the rules?! Hell, rules are made to be broken." Said Mr. Flam. "And don't call me Mr. Flam. That name is hella lame. Call me FRAAAAANKYYYY!"

He flicked his sunglasses over his eyes as he studied Luffy. "So, Straw Hat, you wanna dance? Let me show you the Super Dance!"

He clicked his fingers in rhythm and began tapping his foot on the ground. "Butt to the right!" He said, throwing his own to his right. Students on that side immediately backed away.

"Right hand on the waist. Straighten out your left arm. Slide annnnnnnd left!" He mirrored his verbal actions, sliding to the left and posing with his butt now pointing left, his left hand on his waist and his right arm straightened.

Then he began to move between those two poses whilst continuously chanting "Right! Left! Right! Left! Right! Left! Right! Left!"

Lucci turned his back on the dancing teacher and brushed past Luffy, knocking into his shoulder. "I'll see you around, Freshman." He said back to Luffy over his shoulder.

"Let's go, Jabra." He added to his fellow Hall Monitor.

Jabra dropped Usopp and followed Lucci. The crowd of students moved aside to allow them plenty of room to pass.

Meanwhile Franky was still doing his dance. "Right! Left! Right! Left! One! Two! One! Two! One! Two! One! Two! OW!"

He began rolling his arms over each other and crouched down before springing into his signature pose.

"SUUUUUUUUPEEERRR!"

He almost drowned out the school bell. Students began to make their way to the front doors.

Luffy was star struck. "That was awesome!"

Franky clapped a hand on Luffy's shoulder. "There you go, Straw Hat. Teach it to your friends and have a Super time."

Luffy looked at his three friends. Usopp shrugged but both Zoro and Sanji were shaking their heads with looks on their faces that suggested that they'd beat Luffy to death if he ever tried to make them do that dance.

Franky's voice echoed around the courtyard once more. "Now you go and enjoy your class, boys. I know it'll be Super!"

Later, in History class, Luffy reflected with disappoint that Franky's prediction was way off. He wasn't having a Super time in class at all.

**XXX**

It was now the last day of their first week back at School. Luffy and Zoro had now both received seven detentions for sleeping in class.

Sanji had finally been busted for using the Home Ec. Kitchen to cook food for female students without permission.

Usopp had received his first **F** for lying in the incredibly easy English essay, '_What I did over the Summer _break.' He was still trying to protest that he had so discovered a new species of snake and defeated ten opponents in a row to win the local Arm-Wrestling competition.

Sanji had now resumed eating with Luffy, Zoro and Usopp in the cafeteria since he was banned from the Home Ec. Kitchen during lunch breaks.

Zoro and Sanji were bickering like they usually did. Luffy was watching their conversation with apparent interest while his hand scuttled over the table, his fingers moving like a spider's legs, to snatch fries from their plates.

Usopp paid no attention to any of them. His head was resting in his hand, his eyes focused on the pale, blonde Freshman, Kaya.

He sighed happily as he gazed at her. Luffy glanced at him with a look of confusion and a mouthful of fries. "Wubsa madda ooslop?" He asked. "Joo sigg?"

Zoro lightly smacked Luffy over the head, making him spit out several fries over his and Sanji's lunch. "You really need to swallow your food before you talk." Zoro muttered. "Translation, what's the matter Usopp? You sick?"

Usopp looked startled.

"No. No, I'm not sick. I –uh, just-"

Sanji leaned over and stared at the direction that Usopp had been gazing.

"Oh ho. Have you been staring at that pretty blonde girl, Usopp?" He teased.

Usopp turned red. "No. I-I mean yes… Well, I wasn't staring AT her. I was just looking in her direction and happened to notice her."

"Your nose just grew, you liar." Zoro joked. "You've been staring at her all week."

Usopp grabbed his long nose in defence. He looked upset.

"Hey, isn't that the girl you got partnered with in History?" Asked Luffy as he stood up to get a look at the girl his friends were talking about.

"Y-yeah." Usopp stammered.

"C'mon, tell us. How's it been going with you two? How'd she get paired with you?" Sanji questioned.

Usopp looked at all three faces that stared right back at him. He sighed and began to tell the story.

**XXX**

_The class sat as they listened to their teacher talk about a revolutionary war that happened a hundred years ago._

… _Although teacher wasn't exactly the right term for the woman that stood in front of the blackboard._

_Their regular teacher was off sick and they had no official substitute so it looked like Principal Spandam had grabbed the first person he'd found and forced her to teach the Freshman year History class._

_As it turned out, he'd picked Nico Robin. The one student who knew practically everything about history._

"_Now then," She said as she surveyed the younger students. "It looks like your teacher had planned to put you into pairs and have each pair give a presentation on the four turning points of the war. I will begin pairing you."_

"_Luffy and Koby."_

"_Shirahoshi and Perona"_

"_Usopp and Kaya."_

_Usopp did a double-take. That was the last person he had expected to be paired with. He glanced in the direction of the blonde girl. Kaya met his eyes and gave him a shy smile._

_Usopp turned beet red and buried his face in his book._

_After class, Kaya approached Usopp._

"_Hi. It's good to meet you." She said in a friendly tone. "I look forward to working with you."_

"_Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh." Usopp stuttered. He cleared his throat dramatically and adopted a high lord British accent. "It is good to meet you. I too, look forward to working with me."_

_She giggled. "I'm Kaya." She said._

"_Uh- I'm Usopp."_

"_Usopp, could we work on the project after school? Would you like to come to my house? I have a computer we can use."_

_Usopp agreed, (since Spandam seemed to think the school's budget should not involve upgrading the school's computer systems), and that afternoon they walked together to Kaya's house._

_The time passed in a daze for Usopp and he found himself walking home with a slight spring in his step he was sure hadn't been there before._

_Kaya had arranged to meet Usopp in the library during the lunch periods to finish off the report. But the next day, she hadn't come to school. Usopp kept his eye out for her but she never came._

_When time seemed to stop dragging itself out and the final school bell sounded, Usopp set off towards Kaya's house. After fifteen minutes of walking, he finally reached her doorstep._

_He knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later, Merry answered._

"_Ah, you're the young man from yesterday. Usopp. I'm afraid Miss Kaya isn't feeling well enough for company at the present time. Could you come by another time?"_

_Usopp hesitated. "Please? I just need to talk to her. It's about the school project we're doing together. It's really important." He pleaded._

_Merry looked conflicted. "Oh, alright. But if she wishes to be left alone, please comply."_

_He led Usopp through the house to the back patio. He opened the sliding glass door and motioned out into the garden._

_Usopp wandered over the grass lawn until he reached the sanctuary-style garden and found himself amongst the plants and trees. He came across a small courtyard to which a fountain and pond sat in the centre of the area. Kaya sat on a stone bench off to his right._

_Her head was bowed and she had something clasped in her hands._

_Usopp reluctantly stepped forward. "Uh… Ahem. Hello, Kaya."_

_Her head rose slowly until her eyes met his. Usopp gave a small start when he saw that her eyes were bloodshot, her nose was red and her face streaked with tears._

"_Kaya… What's wrong?"_

_She hiccoughed and shook her head._

"_I won't disturb you. I'll come back another time." He said gently._

_He turned to leave but she grasped his hand._

"_Please, Usopp. I just need a friend."_

_Usopp sat next to her and after a few moments of hesitation, summoned up all his courage to put his arm around her shoulders._

_He relaxed when she didn't jerk away from him or try to get away. But his heart was beating so fast and so loud it felt like was echoing inside his head._

_She held up the object in her hands. It was a locket, a locket that contained a small portrait of Kaya and a man and woman Usopp guessed were her parents._

"_They died in a car crash one year ago. Today is the anniversary of that accident." She whispered._

_Usopp's mind was whirring into life. He thought he knew of a good lie – no, a tall tale, that might cheer her up._

"_Hey, my mother died when I was young. An illness. Ever since it was just me and my dad. I always had trouble with bullies. I remember this one guy. He was like 12 feet tall and he was only ten years old. He was a real gorilla too. He moved like this."_

_He detached himself from Kaya stood up, moved back a few paces and imitated a monkey moving around and dragging his arms. He scratched his butt with a real absent look on his face._

_Kaya sniffled and wiped a tear away from her eye. Her lips tweaked into a small smile and she giggled weakly._

_Usopp continued. "And he had this gang of thugs. There must have been like a hundred of them. They cornered me in the forest. But I was ready for them. I'd set traps for them."_

"_So when they threatened me, I threw mud in the huge guy's eyes. And he screamed and stumbled around."_

_At that Usopp made monkey noises and flailed his arms around, pausing to scratch his butt with the absent look of his monkey impersonation and then go straight back to screeching 'Ooh, ooh, ooh'._

_Kaya began to laugh. Softly at first, but her laughter grew louder as Usopp continued to do impressions and make wise cracks about the characters he'd just made up._

_Kaya soon began to laugh so much that her face radiated. Usopp brightened and continued to tell his outlandish tale._

**XXX**

Sanji spoke once Usopp had finished telling the story.

"Alright, Usopp." Sanji said, clapping Usopp on the shoulder. "You keep making her laugh, pretty soon she'll fall for you. Although it sounds like you've already fallen for her."

Usopp went red in the face in 0.2 seconds.

"I-I have not f-fallen for her." Stammered Usopp. "I mean she's pretty and beautiful and I wouldn't stand a chance with her. But I-"

"Then go ask her out."

Usopp's jaw dropped.

"What? I-I can't… Because I'll get the mumps." He replied weakly.

Zoro smirked. "Busted."

Usopp was looking at Zoro like a petrified mouse looks into the eyes of a cobra.

Zoro and Sanji shared a look, nodded and pounced on Usopp. They grabbed him by the arms and hauled him out of his seat. Usopp shouted protest, causing several nearby students to glance in their direction.

"If you haven't fallen for her, then you should have no problem asking her out on a date, right?" The green-haired teen asked as he and Sanji steered Usopp towards Kaya's table.

Usopp tried to reply but Sanji interrupted. "Heads up, someone is trying to steal your girl."

All heads whirled around to Kaya's table. A senior had just approached her. He was very serious looking. He wore the school's suit uniform, but kept the jacket unbuttoned. He corrected his glasses as he spoke to the blonde girl. (Usopp, Zoro and Sanji were well within earshot).

"Good afternoon. I couldn't help but notice you sitting here alone. May I join you?"

Kaya nodded. The senior sat opposite her. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Kuro." He said.

Kaya smiled a friendly smile. "My name is Kaya."

"Pleased to meet you." Kuro said.

"Forgive me for being so bold. But I was wondering if you would like to go to dinner with me on Friday night? We could get to know each other and perhaps see a movie afterwards?"

Kaya smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. I'm supposed to meet a friend on Friday night."

Kuro's face was impassive. "Perhaps another night?" He queried.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I must decline your invitation." Kaya said quietly, her head bowed.

Kuro's face was expressionless. Then he smiled, but it looked a little forced. When he spoke, his tone even seemed forced.

"I see. Well then… I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

He stood and stalked away. A few students who had overheard the conversation heckled him as he passed their table.

Kaya watched Kuro's retreating figure with a guilty expression. Her gaze cast over Usopp before she did a double-take and fixed her eyes on him.

Usopp realized what a sight he'd look to her, since Sanji and Zoro were still grappling him.

Suddenly they released his arms and pushed him forwards. He stumbled and regained himself.

He strode over to the blonde girl, now full of determination after seeing Kuro's attempt to ask her out.

"Kaya. I, uh. I was wondering… If you would. G-g-g-" He began to stutter again. His face burning with embarrassment. Kaya looked up at him expectantly.

"G-guh-guh… Give me your phone number." Usopp said suddenly. "And I can give you mine. You know, if you want to." He immediately began cursing himself for saying the wrong thing.

Kaya blinked in surprise. Then she smiled.

"I'd like that."

They exchanged numbers on their mobiles. "I'll - uh… call you." Usopp said with a nervous smile.

"That would be nice." Kaya said.

Usopp turned and retreated back to his table, grabbed his bag and headed straight for the exit. As he reached the doors he pumped his fist in the air and jumped to click his heels together. Zoro and Sanji scooped up their bags and followed.

Sanji held up his hand for a high-five. Zoro threw out his hand but missed and hit Sanji in the face. Many heads turned towards them as Sanji began yelling furiously at Zoro, who defended himself by saying that Sanji's head was so big that it must have its own gravitational pull.

Luffy watched his friends depart, then looked at all their plates that he had so generously emptied of food. He grabbed his bag and his straw hat and raced after his friends.

End Chapter.

Yeah, a small tribute to Michael Jackson. I never really listened to his music, Thriller was about it, but having watched the music video of that song for the first time and seeing dancing zombies, I immediately thought to myself that this would be the sort of thing Luffy would love to be a part of.

Sorry if this chapter feels rushed, it ended up being a bit longer than I'd planned to have it. Chapter 4 should be finished and uploaded by New Year's Eve (my time-zone).

*A/N - I'm sorry about the delay with this chapter. My grandmother died recently and as the first death of someone close to me, it had hit me pretty hard. The support from friends and family were quite touching and I thank them very much. For without them, I probably would have stopped writing altogether.


	4. The Pig, the Snake and the Luffy

Chapter 4.

Usopp stood at Shift station under the bright Saturday morning sun. He was grinning in excitement. He, Sanji and Luffy had organized to go to the New World Mega-Plaza that had just opened up. From what Usopp had read, it had just about everything.

Cinemas, bowling alley, seven floors of stores, two food courts, and so many more things that made Usopp's grin widen. He had heard rumours that they were even going to put in a theme park extension, but he didn't really believe that.

A car horn sounded which signaled the arrival of Zoro and Luffy. Zoro's shiny black Mustang parked in the lot. Luffy rocketed out of the passenger door, almost a blur as he charged up to Usopp.

He stood before his friend, bouncing on the balls of his feet. His straw hat somehow stayed firmly on his head. "Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man. Can you believe we're finally going to New World?" He asked, his face alight with so much happiness Usopp couldn't help but smile as well.

Zoro made his way over to the two teenagers. He was swirling the car key around his index finger.

Usopp stood on tiptoe and craned his neck, looking down to the street in hopes of spotting that last member of the group.

"So I guess the only one left is Sanji." He said.

"Not quite."

Usopp jumped a mile as the voice spoke directly behind him.

He spun, clutching at his chest and breathing heavily to ease the shock, to see Sanji, who was leaning against one of the station's pillars, grinning broadly in delight. A cigarette was trapped between his teeth.

"Geez, Sanji. Don't do that to me. I think I had a heart attack." Usopp moaned.

"You'll live." Sanji said unsympathetically.

His eyes focused on something behind Usopp.

"Ah, here she is. Our final member has arrived."

Luffy, Zoro and Usopp spun to see a black sedan pull up at the wide entrance of the station. The passenger door opened and out stepped Kaya.

Usopp's jaw dropped so fast he was sure he dislocated it.

He spun to Sanji. "What is she doing here?" He whispered in horror.

Sanji gave him a wink. "Last night when we were planning this trip. You went to the bathroom and left your phone on the table. You obviously like Kaya and this seemed like the perfect chance for you to spend some time with her. So I sent her a text from you and asked if she wanted to come to New World with us."

"Why would you do that to me?!" Usopp shrieked.

"Why would he do what to you, Usopp?" Asked a quiet voice.

Usopp's face went beet red as he came face to face with Kaya. She wore a light blue dress with brown boots. A beige overcoat was draped over her shoulders. Her head was tilted slightly to one side.

"Uh-buh. Uh… well, he… um."

"Forgive me, my dear. I was just berating Usopp here for not introducing us sooner." Sanji said.

"Nice save." Zoro muttered.

Usopp cheeks were still rosy red with embarrassment, but nonetheless, he began introducing Kaya to his friends.

"Kaya, this is Sanji."

The blonde boy gave a courteous bow towards the girl.

"This is Zoro."

The green-haired teen nodded his head in welcome.

"And this is Luffy."

He said, motioning to the straw hat clad boy to his right.

Luffy did nothing for a moment. You could almost hear the gears turning in his head as he thought. Finally, his eyes seemed to light up as recognition dawned on him.

"Hey, you're that girl Usopp likes a lot." He said.

Kaya blinked in surprise.

Zoro closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly at his friend's lack of subtlety.

Usopp's eyes bulged in disbelief and his hand shot out and sharply smacked Luffy's stomach in a desperate attempt to shut him up.

Kaya was looking from Luffy to Usopp in uncertainty.

Thankfully for Usopp, he was saved from giving an explanation by a loud whistle that shrieked through the air.

The Puffing Tom had arrived. An impressive custom built, yet historical looking, 4-4-0 steam locomotive with a streamlined boiler and smoke box and an inverted cowcatcher. The entire train was green and red with orange and yellow lining. In addition to its tender, Puffing Tom carried several passenger cars and a few freight cars. Thick clouds of steam burst from the pistons as the driver applied the brakes.

"Argh! We haven't got tickets yet! Look at the line! We won't be able to go to New World!" Luffy said, looking horrified as he saw the lineup at the ticket booth and then back to the steam train.

"Relax, Luffy. I already got us the train tickets. That'll be twelve bucks from each of you. Pay up, you bums." He turned to Kaya. "Except for you, my dear. I could never make you pay."

**XXX**

They sat in the last passenger carriage. Behind this carriage was the freight cars. To pass the time of their two hour trip, Sanji was chattering away about some beautiful girls he served at the Baratie last night. Luffy nodded at regular intervals but anyone could tell by his glazed over eyes that he wasn't listening to a word his friend was saying.

Zoro was sleeping in the seat behind Usopp and Kaya, who were having small, awkward conversations with rather large pauses.

After a while, Usopp finally started telling another of his tall tales. Kaya listened with rapt interest.

Sanji had begun telling Luffy about the finer points of being a gentleman. (After knocking his knuckles on Luffy's head to make him pay attention whenever he noticed that glazed expression returning).

"Remember, always walk with a woman, hold the door open for her and if you take her out to dinner, always pull her chair out for her and tuck it in once she is seated. This is important if you ever want to get a girlfriend."

Luffy suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Need food." He cried.

He ran to the carriage door but stopped and doubled back. "Where's the food car?" he cried.

"Third carriage from the engine." Said Sanji, looking nonplussed.

Luffy dashed off again and disappeared through the door to the next carriage.

Seven minutes later the door opened again. But it wasn't Luffy who appeared. It was a young man of about eighteen years of age. He had a rather obese face and snot hanging from his nostril.

This boy was well known in the next city over. His name was Charloss, He was nothing more than a spoilt brat who thought himself better than everyone because his father was an important member of the government.

Charloss had been looking for the dining car and, without realizing, had wandered straight through it because he hadn't been paying attention.

He gazed at everyone in the carriage like they were slugs under his shoe. Those who looked over and recognized him quickly moved their eyes to the floor and shrunk lower in their seats.

His mouth stretched into a smile as he drank in the people's fear. He could do anything he pleased. His eyes narrowed dangerously as Usopp stood up from his seat.

How dare a filthy commoner stand up in his presence like some sort of equal. He stalked over to the younger boy.

Usopp was asking Kaya if she wanted anything from the diner carriage when a voice made him straighten and turn to its source.

"You're in my way, you lowly piece of trash."

Charloss smashed the back of his hand into Usopp's face. The long-nosed boy fell against Sanji. Kaya gasped in shock.

Zoro was awake and up in an instant, with a dangerous glint in his eyes, and his fist already speeding towards Charloss' obese face in a retaliation strike. But his fist never made it to the spoilt man's face.

A girl had grabbed hold of Zoro's wrist, wrapped her arms around his and pulled him off balance towards herself and away from Charloss.

Zoro studied his saboteur. She had long pink hair under a unique, green cap, suspenders that ran over her white tank top, connected to the small denim shorts she wore and black high-heeled boots completed with dark red stockings.

Zoro stared into her face, noting that she wore red lipstick only on the centre of her lips. He locked gazes with her serious, purple eyes. She quickly latched herself to him so that their faces were very close to each other.

"Follow my lead." She whispered quickly.

"What?" Said Zoro.

He was suspicious of this strange girl. Right now her breasts enveloped his arm as she pressed against him in what looked like a rather intimate way.

"Now, sweetie. I told you that you can't go around hitting people." She said to him sweetly as if she were scolding a small child. She peeked over Zoro's shoulder to the nasty man who was glaring at them suspiciously.

"Don't mind my boyfriend. He's got a disorder that makes him violent. Please accept my apology." She said.

Charloss grunted in reply and turned his eyes to the back of the carriage, where he saw a girl he recognized. She had been sitting her two sisters but she stood and made her way to the back of the carriage where she opened the door and disappeared from view as it closed behind her.

He stalked off after the raven-haired girl, his annoyance at Zoro forgotten. The pink-haired girl watched him leave and turned her gaze to Zoro.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She demanded. "Don't you know who that guy is? His father is so high up in the government that he could have the worst things done to you as punishment if you hit his son."

"Yeah? Well who the hell are you?" Zoro demanded as he wrenched his arm free from her grasp.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed Luffy returning from the dining cart, burdened by the food and drinks bundled in his arms.

The girl placed her hands on her hips. "The name is Jewelry Bonney." She said huffily. "And excuse me for trying to help you out."

**XXX**

Hancock heard the carriage door open behind her. She ignored the person until she felt their hand touch her butt and squeeze it roughly. She swatted the hand away and angrily turned to the one who had touched her.

He had a wide, obese face and stubble around his mouth. He had snot hanging from one of his nostrils, which he picked at.

Hancock grimaced visibly. She knew this boy, although she'd rather that she didn't. It was that unbelievably rich and spoilt brat, Charloss.

"Hello, Hancock." He said.

She said nothing, just glared at him stonily.

He assumed a mock-hurt expression. "Don't ignore me, Hancock." He said. "You'll hurt my feelings."

"Don't say my name." She snapped. "You'll soil it."

"That's not what you used to say in third grade." He said childishly as he again picked at the snot that hung from his nose. "Remember? You were in love with me. Anytime I said your name, you'd swoon before me. You used to write me those notes. You even said you'd be my wife."

"That was when I was a child. And before I knew what a sickening pig you were." Hancock said icily.

Charloss' eye twitched at the insult. "You had better watch what you say to me. I always get what I want. My father is an important man. If I say I want you, you will become mine. So you better not get me angry."

Hancock tried to storm by him to the carriage door, but he blocked her way and forced her against the carriage's handrail. He grabbed her breast and squeezed it.

"Oh. It's so soft. So, so soft." He said, a sick and pleased smile forming on his lips. Hancock gritted her teeth, naked fury flaring in her eyes. She tried to pry his hand away, but he grabbed her wrist and wrenched it away.

He clasped her cheeks between his index finger and thumb and squeezed hard. He stuck his face close to hers. "You will be mine, Hancock." He said menacingly. "And no one can change that."

Suddenly a voice spoke from behind him.

"Let her go, asshole."

Charloss released Hancock and spun to the owner of the voice. Luffy stood in the carriage door. His usually warm eyes were cold.

Charloss snorted. "I don't like your tone. Why don't you get lost, little boy." He sneered. Luffy didn't move.

"You hit my friend." He said quietly.

Charloss frowned in concentration. His face brightened when the face clicked in his mind. "Oh. You mean the freak with the long nose. Yes, he got in my way. So I taught him a lesson."

Luffy cracked his knuckles dangerously. Charloss looked down at Luffy's hand.

"Ha! If you hit me, my father will destroy you. I have the power to make you go to prison and never come out. Or I could even have you killed." He said.

Hancock surveyed the conversation in silence. She tried again to get past Charloss. But as she brushed past him, he roughly grabbed her wrist and yanked her back to his body.

"I told you that you aren't leaving. You will walk with me to my carriage, you will hold my hand and smile. You're staying with me from now on. Because now you are my girlfriend. If you don't obey me, life will be unpleasant for you. I'll make you my slave."

Before Hancock could voice her protest, Luffy stepped close and grabbed Charloss' wrist. He squeezed hard and the chubby man squealed in pain and relinquished his grip on Hancock.

She quickly moved away to the carriage door. She stopped and looked back as Charloss began shouting.

"You little shit!" He snarled. He shoved his hand into the opening of his coat and withdrew a pistol. "I'll kill you slowly so that you beg for mercy. You'll die and I'll get off scot free. "

Luffy's hand was a blur as it snapped up instinctively and knocked the pistol from the older boy's grasp and sent it flying into the air. Charloss turned his head upwards to follow the spinning firearm with a dumb look of surprise in his eyes, but Luffy quickly head butted him in the jaw.

Charloss screamed in agony and clasped his split, bleeding lip. Luffy drew back and delivered a devastating punch. The strike caught the older boy square in the centre of his obese face. His nose broke under the force of Luffy's attack and blood exploded from his nostrils.

He stumbled backwards until he hit the railing and tumbled over the side. He landed on his head beside the train, his legs missing the wheels by centimeters, and rolled down the embankment until he came to a stop in a muddy ditch.

Luffy watched the boy with distaste as he shrank further and further away.

"That was for my friend." He said aloud.

He turned to go back inside and stopped short when he discovered Hancock was still standing in the doorway. She stared at him, her blue eyes wide in disbelief.

"Do you realize what you just did?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, I punched that guy." He said simply.

"His father is a powerful man. He could have you killed." She said, amazed that this boy had just endangered his life so recklessly. Just to save her.

"I don't regret it. He was a jerk." Luffy said. "He hurt my friend. Oh, are you okay?"

Hancock's eyes grew wider. "Are you… Concerned about me?" She asked. Luffy smiled at her. "Of course I am." He replied. "That guy didn't hurt you, did he?" He asked.

Hancock shook her head. "No. He didn't."

Luffy smiled in relief. "Good. I guess it's lucky I showed up when I did." He gave a small laugh, as if he'd told a joke.

_'He has a cute laugh.'_ Hancock thought.

"Did you get a lousy ticket?" Luffy asked.

Hancock blinked.

"What?"

"Are you out here because you got a bad ticket?" Luffy asked. "Is that why they made you sit out here? It looks uncomfortable."

"No, they didn't make me sit out here. They wouldn't dare." Hancock said. "I only came out here for the fresh air and to clear my head."

"Oh. So where are you sitting?" Luffy asked.

"The last carriage." She replied.

"I thought this was the last carriage." Luffy said, looking around and then out to the surrounding environment.

"The last passenger carriage." Hancock corrected.

_'Is he trying to make me laugh?'_

"Hey, me too! You want to walk back together?" Luffy offered.

"Umm… Sure." She said, placing her hand on her cheek.

They both hesitated, unsure of what they were really to do, so they just stood there at the doorway awkwardly.

Luffy hesitated because his simple-minded brain was currently being dominated by the memory of Sanji's lecture about being a gentleman and walking with a girl.

Which was odd… He should have been thinking about the food he left with his friends.

Hancock hesitated because her mind was in overdrive. She was surprised why she had accepted the boy's offer. Normally she would have turned her nose up at him and left him standing there without a moment's hesitation.

Was she ill?

Luffy looked into her eyes. Hancock was surprised by that. Boys usually didn't look her in the eyes, they always looked at her chest.

Hancock felt her cheeks warm as she looked at his.

"Would you like to go?" He asked.

"Of course." She said quickly. Hancock turned and entered the freight car. Luffy fell in step beside her and they walked in silence through the carriage. Hancock studied the young man more closely.

_'Such a manly way of walking.'_ She thought.

They reached the next carriage, which was already open because Luffy never shut the door behind him on his hunt for Charloss. Finally they reached the last doorway. Luffy stepped over the carriage's couplings and held the door open (courtesy of Sanji's words still floating in his mind).

'_So considerate._'

Hancock turned a darker shade of red and her heartbeat increased. She stepped lightly over the gap and entered the crowded passenger carriage. Luffy followed behind her until she reached her seat, where her two sisters sat.

Marigold and Sandersonia smiled at their sister but narrowed their eyes suspiciously at Luffy. Hancock turned to him.

"This is my seat. And I didn't say it before, but thank you…" She said

"Luffy." The young man said with a smile. "And you're welcome… Uh…"

"Hancock. Hancock Gorgon." She said.

"It's good to meet you. Maybe I'll see you around school, Hancock." Luffy said. "Bye." He said with a short wave.

Hancock collapsed into her seat and stared after the departing boy. Her heart was beating faster than it should have.

'_Maybe I will see you again... Luffy.'_

Marigold and Sandersonia looked at their older sister as she lost herself in her own thoughts, then to the boy as he rejoined his friends and then finally at each other. They shrugged in unison.

'_I'm sure she'll forget about him by tomorrow_.'

End Chapter.

Slight bit of action in this chapter. Again, sorry if this feels rushed with the whole Hancock developing feelings for Luffy straight away. I may fix it up later on. Although you could think of it as an early Valentines Day, right?...

Right?

-Silence-

…Awwww.

Fear not. The next chapter will more than make up for it. I promise. I'll be springing that one on you this Friday. Trust me, it's gonna be great.

P.S. Happy New Year!


	5. Bon Clay's Dance Class

I honestly hope you all enjoy this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing this one and I can quite easily call it one of my favourites. Actually, I think this may have been the first chapter I began writing for this story, so I'm super excited to have finally posted this. God forbid it's been staring at me from the story folder for I don't know how many months.

Chapter 5.

The mix of freshman, sophomores and seniors all stood in the dance hall on a mid-Monday morning. Some were sitting, some standing, some talking in small groups and others standing away from the rest.

Luffy sat on the ground, leaning against one of the mirrored walls with his arms cushioning his head.

Usopp approached him.

"Hey, Luffy? Do you know why we're all here? I mean, why have a bunch of students from different year levels?" He asked his friend. "We're here, but Kaya didn't get chosen." He added with a pout.

Luffy shrugged. "I think they said this was gonna be a new dance class because of low numbers or something. I overheard it in detention." He said.

"They only had five, those guys from last week." Luffy said pointing at the group of five students that had been his and Usopp's background dancers when they had zombie-danced the same way they had seen in Thriller Bark's music video.

That had been the day he'd had that stand off against the Hall Monitor, Rob Lucci. Luffy was somewhat pleased to see that Lucci was not in this selection of students. He did, however, see that there were two Hall Monitors that had been chosen for participation.

Kaku, the square-nosed and friendly one. Also the girl, Kalifa. He hadn't spoken to her yet.

Zoro leaned against the railing that ran along the wall. "Hey, did you hear that this new dance teacher was arrested once?" he said to Luffy.

"Really?" Luffy asked. "What did they get arrested for?"

"Cross-dressing. Or something like that." Replied Zoro.

"Wait, for real? That's awesome." Luffy said with a chuckle.

"That's disgusting." Sanji chimed in as he stepped closer to the two. "I heard about that guy. I mean, who would be so sick in the head that they would want to dress like a girl."

"What's your problem? You're acting as if you've had a bad experience with cross-dressers or something." Zoro said, opening an eye.

"You know I did." Sanji snapped. "Because of you. Remember the stripper you hired for my eighteenth birthday?"

Zoro chuckled. "Come on, why are you still bitching about that? She was nice, wasn't she?"

"It was a guy in a dress and a wig!" Sanji said angrily.

"Is that why you and Zoro don't get along that much now?" Luffy asked.

"Yes! Because shithead here convinced everyone to leave me alone in the room so I could get a private dance and then he locked me in with the freak!"

"You left out the part where I slipped him a fifty and told him to rock your world." Zoro said with an evil grin.

Before Sanji could attack Zoro, the doors opened and, hopping in on one foot in a pose that suggested he might do a pirouette at any moment, was a man wearing a pink coat that was decorated by a white fur collar, two swans rising up from the shoulders and text that said '_Oh Come My Way_' written on the back in Japanese text.

Every student in the class stared in shock and disgust as they looked over the newcomer. He wore ballet slippers, a blue shirt that ended in a huge ball that covered his waist, but did nothing to cover his thighs and no pants to cover his unshaven legs.

But what freaked everyone out the most was the fact that the man was wearing mascara in huge circles around his eyes, what looked like blush on his cheeks and lipstick. He also wore a headband on which two fuzzy white balls bobbed.

"Welcome class. Please line up. Come on now, line up. Line UP!" he shouted in a shrill voice, clapping his hands together to gain the student's attention. A few of the braver students reluctantly moved closer but most stayed where they were, as far away from the man as possible.

"Hello all. My name is Bon Clay, but you may call me Mr. Clay. Or Bon. Whichever is fine. I shall be your dance teacher. Right. Now, shall we begin our dance practice?" He queried. Nobody said anything, so Sanji decided to say what everyone was thinking and raised his arm.

"Yes, young man? How duex you do? What is your question?" Mr. Clay said.

"Uh… I'm alright. But exactly what dance are we supposed to be learning?" Sanji asked. Many students nodded and echoed his question.

Mr. Clay studied their faces before he answered. "We'll be learning one of my favourites, _Blooming Desert Rose_!"

"That's a shitty name." Sanji said before he could help himself. A few students giggled. Mr. Clay didn't answer until he forced himself to calm down.

"It's a classic." He said through gritted teeth. "Now, shall we begin?"

More silence answered him.

Sanji raised his hand again.

"What is it this time?" Snapped Mr. Clay.

"What are we supposed to do? What's the lineup?" He asked.

"Oh, yes. Silly me, it will be a boy/girl pair up. Now partner yourselves with someone of the opposite sex."

The students looked at one another in a silent search to seek their dance partner and a few began to shuffle slowly towards their desired partners. Mr. Clay seemed to mistake the silence for uncertainty.

"Oh, come on now." He said loudly, which made everyone freeze in their tracks. "We're all adults, if you can't decide who to pair up with, well then…"

He paused dramatically.

Everyone remained frozen as they awaited his announcement, half-hoping that he might call off the dance.

"I shall decide for you!" He shouted happily, spinning on the spot.

A lot of hopes died right there and then.

"Alright then. How about you and… You!" He said pointing at Zoro and Robin.

A chorus of disappointed groans from almost every girl in the class answered his decision.

Zoro looked at Robin, who smiled in welcome. He rubbed the back of his head and made his way to where she stood, muttering under his breath all the way.

"Next will be you and you."

Buggy gave a triumphant grin as he moved to Alvida's side and looped his arm around her waist possessively, pulling her close.

Mr. Clay began spinning on the spot, pointing to random students to pair up. "You and you!" He declared, indicating Luffy and Nami.

"Hey, wait! You can't be serious! I don't want to pair up with him!" she protested. Mr. Clay stopped spinning and arched an eyebrow at her.

"_I don't want to pair up with him_." He repeated in a surprisingly good imitation of Nami's whining tone.

"Cut it out! You're the adult here!" snapped Nami. She clenched her fists in an effort to stop her temper from exploding. A few of the surrounding students backed away from her until they were at a safe distance.

"You're right, I'm sorry. That was very immature of me. Well, would you rather pair up with another boy?" Mr. Clay asked.

Nami looked at the other free male students. Sanji was waving his hand in the air and practically jumping on the spot. "Oh, oh. Nami! Nami, over here." He said. "Please pick me. Nami. Nami. Oh, oh. Please pick me!"

"Anyone except you!" snapped Bon Clay.

Sanji growled and lowered his hand. "Why the hell not?" He demanded. "Why can't I partner with Nami?!"

"Because I said so." Said Mr. Clay happily, giving Sanji a thumbs-up.

Sanji returned the gesture with a ruder one-fingered salute.

Nami ignored them and continued to search for a new dance partner. Most of the boys, like Usopp, avoided eye contact with her, while others, like Mihawk, showed no interest in being her partner.

There was only one other male student who showed a real interest in her, and that was Absalom. His eyes met hers and he marched towards her, licking his lips in a perverted manner as his eyes roamed the curves of her figure.

Nami visibly shivered and stepped back towards Luffy and grabbed his arm. "I'll stay with this guy." She said.

"Marvelous!" shouted Bon Clay as he performed a pirouette in glee.

He stopped when another student voiced her protest.

"Hold it! I wanted Luffy as my partner." Hancock announced as she stepped forward and pointed her finger at the black haired boy.

Many students muttered in surprise as they looked at the beautiful senior and then to the ordinary freshman. Why would she want to partner with him?

_The lucky bastard!_

"I'm sorry young lady. But my decision shall stand. Luffy is to be partnered with the girl I selected."

"Fine." Snapped Hancock. "Then I shall not participate in this class."

And with that, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her and left the students in an uneasy silence.

"Wait, can we just leave like that?" Asked one of the students.

"Absolutely not." Bon Clay said. "And you two shall stay here." He added to Sandersonia and Marigold as they tried to follow after their sister to comfort her. They hesitated and returned to the group reluctantly.

"But she got to leave." Said another student.

"Yes, but the next person to leave shall receive detention as a punishment." He said.

The students all began to weigh which choice they could live with. Ditching dance class taught by a cross-dresser forever or receiving one measly detention.

A few students began to make their way towards the door.

"Let me correct myself." Bon Clay said loudly. "Detention with me, practicing the dance choreography after school for three hours."

The students quickly returned to their places.

"Now, the next pair shall be you and you." Mr. Clay said, indicating Usopp and Perona.

"Hold on a minute!" protested Perona.

Mr. Clay covered his eyes with his hand and sighed loudly in irritation.

"What now?!" He snapped.

"I don't want to partner with him either. He's terrible at everything! I'd rather partner with anyone else besides him." She said taking a step away from Usopp.

Mr. Clay sighed again. "You see what you've done." He said to Nami. "You've started a trend." He frowned and then he broke out into a smile. "A trend! How fun!"

"Focus on the class!" Sanji shouted. Mr. Clay broke out of his pose and regained his dignified manner.

'Very well, young lady. I shall select a new partner for you and I don't want to hear another word against it." He said.

"Fine." Agreed Perona.

Mr. Clay roamed among the free male students, staring intently into their faces and glancing back to Perona. Finally he stopped at Mihawk.

"Young man. Would you like to be this lovely girl's partner?" Mr. Clay asked.

"I suppose." Mihawk said with a shrug.

"Wonderful!" shouted Bon Clay and he turned and leapt into the air gracefully and returned to his position at the front of the class.

"Alright, now that the little drama is over we can finally mo-" he broke off as his eyes rested on Usopp and he realized that he hadn't solved the other half of the problem.

He sighed theatrically. "Alright, let us get this out of the way. Would any lovely lady like to be this young man's partner?" He asked loud enough for the entire class to hear.

Usopp looked around hopefully. All the girls stared at him in a stony silence. None made a move towards him, and some even stepped away from him.

Usopp could feel his cheeks burning in humiliation and shame. He hung his head and stared at his feet, well aware that all eyes in the class were on him.

Mr. Clay covered his mouth with his hand and he gazed sadly at the unfortunate student. "Oh dear." He said quietly as he realized the position he had placed Usopp in, although he hadn't intended to.

Usopp could feel tears stinging his eyes and he tried desperately to blink them away. He didn't want to acknowledge anything from the outside world.

Until, that is, he felt a slender hand touch his shoulder.

"Young lady." Mr. Clay's voice rang out. "Are you accepting this boy as your dance partner?" The hope in his voice was obvious.

"Yes. Mmmm. I am." Purred a female voice.

"Thank you." Mr. Clay said, relieved to have averted a scene.

Usopp raised his head and looked at his female partner. She smiled superiorly at him and ran her tongue along her top lip seductively.

Usopp's face almost fell when he realized who his partner was. It was Sadie.

He turned back to face the teacher to voice his objection. He had heard rumors of this girl that terrified him.

"W-Wait a min-" Usopp cut himself off and fell silent as he felt her hand squeeze his shoulder hard and she stepped closer to him so that he felt her body pressing against his back.

Bon Clay didn't hear Usopp's brief objection and continued to pair students together.

Absalom was unhappily partnered with Lola, who was rather ecstatic about it.

Kaku was partnered with Kalifa.

Sandersonia was partnered with Marigold. They raised an eyebrow at each other in a silent question as to why they were paired with each other and not a boy.

Koby was partnered with Shirahoshi, and looked like he had gone to heaven for being paired with the cute girl.

Finally all the students were partnered with one another. With the exception of a single male student left standing alone.

Sanji.

"Hey, what gives?! Why am I the only one left without a female partner?" He demanded angrily. "You said that all students would be paired with someone of the opposite sex but you partnered those two up and they're both girls."

He pointed towards Sandersonia and Marigold, and they both looked towards the teacher for an answer.

Mr. Clay nodded seriously. "Yes, I had a reason for that. You see ladies, due to your height, it would be a little awkward for you to partner with someone who is much shorter than yourselves, so I had you two pair up because you are almost as tall as one another. I hope that you understand and are not offended by my decision."

Sandersonia and Marigold both nodded in agreement. They could see the logic of the choice Mr. Clay had made since they were both the tallest students in the mixed class.

"So does that mean I don't have to take dance class after all?" Sanji asked hopefully.

"Of course it doesn't. Don't be ridiculous. But fret not, for I have already arranged a partner for you." Mr. Clay said.

"Really?" Sanji asked. "Well, where is she? Who is it?"

"Right here." Mr. Clay said, placing a hand on his own chest in a dramatic display. "I will be your partner!"

Sanji looked like he wanted to die right there and then.

A few of the students tried hard not to laugh at Sanji's misfortune. But they were fighting a losing battle.

"Whoa, Sanji. You get to be partners with the teacher. You are so lucky." Said Luffy sincerely.

"In what way am I lucky, you dumb shit!" snarled Sanji.

"In the way that you get to dance with the loveliest girl in the class." Zoro said with a smirk.

Almost everyone burst into great fits of laughter at that remark.

Sanji's temper was rising so fast that he could have exploded into flames.

"I'll kill you, you moss-head freak!" He screamed and he leapt at Zoro.

He was, however, intercepted by Mr. Clay.

"That's the spirit!" He said happily as he grabbed Sanji's hands, moved him into the opening pose of the dance and began to move him through the choreography.

Everyone just laughed harder as Sanji shouted his protest and struggled to break free of the teacher's grip.

End Chapter.

I honestly hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Was the humour any good? Please let me know what you thought. I'll hopefully get the next chapter up by next Friday, but I turn 21 tomorrow (5/1) and I'm probably going to be doing other things than writing, but we'll see how I go.


	6. Usopp's After School Special

Chapter 6.

Usopp was happy to see the end of yet another day of school. He couldn't believe the amount of homework that was starting to pile up. Maths, English, History. And he had to learn the choreography for Dance class. It was maddening.

He squeezed through a gap in the crowd of students and caught sight of Kaya by the front gate. She was smoothing her long skirt and glancing up and down the street.

"Hi, Kaya." He said brightly.

He mentally congratulated himself. He'd been practicing talking to her without getting tongue tied. All those hours in front of the mirror whilst swapping between a cowboy hat while playing as himself and a blonde wig to pretend to be her were paying off.

Kaya turned and gave him a warm smile.

"Hi, Usopp. Are you heading home?"

"Yeah. Are you walking? I could… uh… Y'know… Walk with you." He finished quietly. He could feel his cheeks flush.

"Oh. Thank you, Usopp. But Merry is picking me up today. I have a doctor's appointment."

"Oh." Said Usopp, feeling a little foolish.

Kaya noticed his tone. "You can walk with me tomorrow, if you'd like. We need to work on that History assignment."

Usopp perked up. "That'd be great."

Someone suddenly collided into Usopp, knocking him off balance.

Usopp stumbled but recovered. He whirled around to see who had bumped into him.

Kuro stormed past, a surly frown darkening his features. He didn't stop or apologize to Usopp. He went right by without acknowledging either Usopp or Kaya.

A few students who were in the process of mounting their bikes caught sight of the senior.

"Hey, it's Kuro the Cradle Robber!"

They called and jeered after the departing student.

Usopp couldn't help but feel sorry for the senior. Ever since Kuro had asked Kaya out and she turned him down, word had spread quickly, (mostly thanks to Fukuro, who was known as one of the biggest gossips in the school).

Ever since, Kuro had endured jeers, taunts and ridicule about a senior asking out a freshman.

Usopp turned his attention back to the blonde girl.

"So what are you doing tonight?" He asked.

"I promised Vivi I'd spend the night at her house. We might even go see a movie tonight." She replied.

"That's cool. What movie are you thinking?"

"I'm not sure." She said thoughtfully. "Hopefully a good one. How about yourself?"

"Me? Oh, I'll be babysitting my dad's friend's kids. Three boys. They were little monsters when I first met them, but now they aren't so bad."

"They aren't trouble?" Kaya asked.

"Not if you know the right way to bribe them." Usopp replied.

Kaya giggled at the joke.

"Hey, Kaya. Umm, if you aren't busy tomorrow night… Would you… Like to… to, uh… W-well, y'know…"

Kaya looked confused.

"Like to what?" She asked.

Usopp adjusted the shoulder strap on his knapsack-type backpack that hung at his hip before he plucked up the courage to answer her.

"Like to g-"

"There you are!"

Usopp jumped as a pair of slender arms wrapped possessively around his chest. Sadie appeared over his shoulder. She spoke directly into Usopp's ear.

"I've been looking for you. You ran off after Dance class so I didn't get a chance to tell you. You're coming over to my house. Mmmm. We need to practice this stupid dance."

"Uh, well sure. But I-I can't. I need to go." Usopp said.

Sadie hugged him tighter to herself.

"Go where?" She demanded. "With her?" She added, acknowledging Kaya for the first time.

Kaya blinked in surprise. She noted a slight hint of hostility in the senior girl's tone.

"No." Kaya replied. "I have to go to a doctor's appointment. I'm Kaya, by the way."

Sadie looked at the younger girl, sizing her up.

"Ms. Sadie." She replied.

A black sedan pulled up. Kaya picked up her bag.

"That's Merry. I'll see you tomorrow, Usopp. Have a good night. You too, Ms. Sadie." She said brightly and left her fellow students by the school's gate.

Usopp watched Kaya disappear into the car before he was forced by Sadie to turn away from the road.

"Mmmm. Come on." She said as she released him and snatched his hand in hers. She pulled him towards a small, blue compact parked in the student's parking area.

"Wait! Where are you taking me?" Usopp said, searching around for anyone who might be able to help him.

"I told you, you're coming to my house." She said.

Sadie clicked a button on her key's remote. The lights of the car flashed as the doors unlocked and the alarm deactivated.

She opened the passenger door.

"Get in." She said.

Usopp hesitated.

"Uh, you see. I'm kind of busy today. Maybe we could do this next week?" He said weakly.

"Now!" Sadie snapped with authority.

Usopp scurried into the car without another word of protest.

**XXX**

Sadie dumped her backpack on the kitchen table. Usopp followed, looking at every square inch of the kitchen. He thought it rather nice and spacious.

Sadie opened the refrigerator and peered inside.

"You want a Pepsi?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Er, yes please." Said Usopp.

Sadie bent at the waist to retrieve the soda and her skirt rode up her thighs. Usopp's face turned as red as the lacy panties he saw she was wearing. He covered his eyes and turned away.

"Here you go."

Her voice made him turn back. She was holding out the soda can. He took it and mumbled his thanks. His face felt extremely hot.

"Are you okay? You look red."

"I-I'm Fine." He answered.

A teasing smile played on her lips.

"You weren't peeking, were you?" She said,

"N-no." He replied unconvincingly.

Sadie's smile widened ever so slightly.

"Mmmm. Naughty boy." She purred.

She picked her bag off the table.

"Come on." She said.

"Where are we going?" Usopp asked.

"My room." Sadie answered.

Usopp hesitated. "Do I have to go too?"

"Well, yeah. My laptop is in my room. We can try to find this dance on YouTube. I can't remember all the poses we have to do for the dance." The redhead replied.

It made sense to Usopp so he followed her up. He had forgotten that laptops can be taken anywhere and therefore he could have stayed down in the lounge room.

He didn't see Sadie's mouth curve in a smile as another piece of her plan fell into place.

**XXX**

Usopp followed the redhead into her room. She moved to the side and allowed him to enter. He took a few steps into the room whilst taking another sip of Pepsi and almost choked on it.

Her room was normal. Absolutely normal.

Usopp was shocked. He had heard wild rumours that Sadie was a girl who practiced witchcraft. He had heard she was something called a Succubus, which when he had looked up the word, meant that she was a demon who sucked the lives out of men. There was also a rumour that she cursed or killed anyone that pissed her off.

He had expected her room to be decorated with skulls and demonic symbols. Instead of black, the walls were painted a soft blue. Posters of bands like the Four Emperors and Thriller Bark were tacked to the wall above her double-sized bed.

She had a walk-in wardrobe, its door ajar. A doorway to her own private bathroom. A simple desk that held her hot pink laptop computer and a lamp sat that sat below a collage of Sadie and her friends. Usopp noticed a blonde girl with sunglasses from the photos that he assumed was the roommate Sadie had mentioned that she shared the house with.

A large window let bright sunlight into the room, reflecting off the mirror that sat above Sadie's dresser. He noticed three stuffed animals that sat on the dresser. A zebra, a koala and a rhino. Usopp stared at the bizarre dolls for a moment.

"I -uh- like your stuffed animals?" Usopp said awkwardly.

"They're adorable, aren't they?" Sadie said affectionately. She closed the door behind her and strode over to the dolls.

She stepped up to her dresser and plucked one from its spot. "Say hello to Minorhinoceros." She said as she showed him the rhino doll. It wore blue overalls. "He's very bashful."

She turned back to the dresser and returned the doll to its place before picking up the next one.

" Next is Minokoala. He's very fierce. Be careful, he might bite."

Usopp stared at the koala doll. It looked like it was eating plushie eucalyptus leaves. He noticed that it wore shorts with a small bag attached to the belt. More plush leaves spilled from the bag.

"And this one is Minozebra. He isn't good with strangers. Don't make him feel uncomfortable, okay?"

Unlike the other two which were larger and rounder, no doubt due to all the stuffing inside them, the zebra was thinner and taller. It wore black pants and had long, curling hair.

While Sadie obviously found them to be cute, Usopp thought they were rather creepy.

Sadie returned the last doll. She turned to her walk in wardrobe and disappeared into its depths.

She emerged a moment later, a ball of cloth bundled in her arms and a towel over her shoulder.

"I've got to take a shower and slip into something more comfortable. I won't be too long. Feel free to use the laptop while you're waiting."

Without waiting for Usopp's reply, Sadie disappeared into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. A few moments later, he heard the water running in the shower.

Usopp sat himself down at her desk chair.

'_She didn't chain me down in the basement. She didn't drug my Pepsi. She didn't curse me. Maybe I overreacted._' He thought. '_She's just a normal girl. She has stuffed animals after all._'

He brought her computer out of sleep mode and searched through the internet for close to twelve minutes until he found a detailed step-by-step instructional video of the _Blooming Desert Rose_ dance.

By this time, the sounds of Sadie's shower had stopped, so Usopp guessed she wouldn't be too much longer. He checked his email while he was waiting.

Finally, Usopp heard the lock click and the slight squeak of the door hinges. Usopp turned to the redhead and spluttered his Pepsi over the floor when he caught sight of her posing against the door frame.

Sadie wore a very skimpy red devil-themed outfit that covered only the top half of her exposed breasts, with laces that hung down like icicles that also featured around her waist. She has long sleeves that slope into stylized rips.

Her slender, milky-white stomach was bare, save for the big, golden ring that shone above her belly button. Two strips of her outfit snaked up from her waist, having been tied in place to the ring one came straight down between her breasts. It kind of looked upside-down Y pattern.

Around her neck, she wore a scarf-like cape that was white on the outside and pale pink on the inside. Candle-shaped earrings rocked gently below her orange hair, and covering her feet were high-heeled shoes that came to a curved tip decorated with spikes.

"Uh… Sadie? Wh-What are you doing?" He asked, his wide eyes darting over her slender form.

Sadie stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"I told you, I was just slipping into something more comfortable. Mmmm. And this is very comfortable."

"I… Uh. I see." Usopp said. His palms were getting sweaty and he himself was getting very nervous.

Sadie moved closer until she stood above him. "You see, I work part time as a Dominatrix to get money. Mmmm. It's good because I make others grovel at my feet. Or I will do a little torture play. That always makes me feel so hot when I hear their screams."

"D-d-dominatrix?" Usopp repeated in a stutter. "T-t-torture?"

His hands were shaking now, his mind in overdrive. Did she lure him over here to make him do humiliating things? To torture him? To make him scream?

Sadie leaned down and placed her hands on the bed at either side of Usopp and moved her face close to his.

"That's right." She said and she ran her tongue across her lip seductively. "But only the lucky few get the, Mmmm, 'special treatment'."

She grabbed his shaking wrist and moved his hand to cup the bare, exposed skin of her breast. Usopp's eyes bulged even wider and a trickle of blood leaked from his nose.

"You see, Mmmm, I happen to like weak, submissive men." Sadie's smile widened and she moved his trembling hand so that his fingers went beneath the material and slid upwards.

Usopp's mouth dropped and his mind flashed as his fingers brushed over her nipple. Although he had a few adult magazines, a real woman was nothing like what he had expected. It terrified him. He knew barely anything about sex and now he might be about to have it. He was inexperienced and scared.

Very, very scared.

He tore his hand from her grasp, relinquishing the touch of her body. He jumped up, brushed past her and searched the room. His mind was screaming.

'_Escape. Escape. Escape. Escape. Escape! Escape! ESCAPE! ESCAPE! ESCAPE! ESCAPE! ESCAPE!_'

He eyed the window and bolted to it.

"I… Uh... I have to get home and have a snack at 4:38 each afternoon otherwise my house burns down." He said and he climbed out the window and dropped to the bushes below.

He bolted out of the yard and down the block. Sadie watched him go from the window until he disappeared from sight. With a disappointed sigh, she dropped herself onto her bed.

"I guess he didn't want to get to third base". She said with a pout.

End Chapter.

*A/N - I apologize for the 3 month wait between this chapter and the last. I got a little distracted by the Mass Effect games since my computer unexpectedly died on me. I've pretty much lost all my files so I have had to start this story from scratch again. My deepest apologies.

In an attempt to make up for it, I have also edited chapter 4 so it feels more natural and in-synch to this story and not as obviously rushed (or it does to me, anyway).

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I promise I won't make you wait so long for the next.


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